1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin-section conveyor apparatus for transporting thin sections obtained by thinly cutting embedded blocks having embedded therein the biological samples taken out from human bodies, laboratory animals, and the like, as well as to a thin-section scooping tool for scooping thin sections that are floating on the liquid surface in a bath, and to a method for transporting thin sections utilizing the thin-section conveyor apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Arts
As a method for testing and observing biological samples taken from human bodies or laboratory animals and the like, conventionally known is a method which comprises preparing an embedded block by embedding biological samples in an embedding medium, thinly cutting the thus prepared embedded blocks into extremely thin sections several micrometers in thickness, and then melting the embedding medium to observe the sample. In this method, the thin sections are prepared by fixing the embedded block on a specimen stage, and then moving a cutter at a predetermined speed to cut out thin sections about 3 to 5 μm in thickness. The thin sections thus prepared are then hooked with fine threads and the like to feed them to the next process steps such as the flattening step and the baking step.
Conventionally, the process step for taking out and sending the thus prepared thin sections to the next process has been carried out manually because the thin sections were extremely thin and were apt to suffer damages such as curls, wrinkles, breaks, and the like. On the other hand, in preclinical tests, for instance, several hundreds of embedded blocks are prepared per test, and several thin sections are prepared from a single embedded block. This requires the operator to prepare a huge number of thin sections and send them to the next process step. Accordingly, attempts have been made to automate these process steps.
Under such circumstances, for instance, there is proposed an apparatus which comprises moving an embedded block by clamping it with a clamping mechanism, preparing thin sections by thinly cutting out the embedded block using a fixed cutter, and transferring the thus prepared thin sections by using a belt and floating them in a water bath, thereby extending the thin sections (see, for example, JP-A-H05-273094).
However, according to the technology disclosed in JP-A-H05-273094, bubbles may be entrained between the thin section and the surface of the water when the thin sections transported by the belt are set afloat on the surface of the water. Then, the thin sections are mounted on a glass slide, and finally, they are tightly adhered to the glass slide after they are subjected to a hot-plate flattening step and a drying step. However, if bubbles should be entrained between the glass slide and the thin section, the adhesiveness of the thin sections to the glass slide decreases to cause the problem of peeling off in the subsequent dyeing step. Otherwise, even if the thin section stay adhered without peeling off, the bubble-entrained part appears as a part differing in color density which is detrimental in microscopic observations.
Accordingly, this invention has been accomplished based in the light of the aforementioned circumstances, and the invention provides a thin-section conveyor apparatus, a thin-section scooping tool, and a method for transporting thin sections, which are almost free of entraining bubbles, or, even if the bubbles should be entrained, which can rapidly remove the bubbles when the thin section are floated on the surface of a liquid.